Three-dimensional photoacoustic tomography normally needs hundreds of transducer elements and the electronics to match, which keeps it expensive and large. Diffractive acoustic tomography (DAT) takes a different route: an acoustic diffractive lens, or metasurface, encodes the 3D field onto one or a few detectors, and the image is recovered computationally. The result is 3D imaging with a fraction of the hardware.
Diffractive acoustic tomography
Published in Nature Communications, DAT demonstrates volumetric photoacoustic imaging with a single-element transducer. Beyond cost, it enables form factors, such as needle-mounted and catheter-mounted sensors, that element arrays cannot reach.
Guiding catheters and reaching deep organs
With Duke clinicians we are developing DAT-based photoacoustic guidance for peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs), aiming to replace X-ray confirmation at the bedside. Earlier, internal-illumination PACT, in which light is delivered through a fiber diffuser inside the body and detected externally, showed how to extend photoacoustic imaging to deep organs in large animals and humans.
Assessing organs before transplant
Integrated photoacoustic and ultrasound localization microscopy gives a high-resolution, functional view of microvascular viability in donor organs. With Duke Surgery we have evaluated ex vivo human kidneys and livers during machine perfusion, with deep-learning analysis to support transplant-suitability decisions.
From lab to company
DAT and the lab's wearable ultrasound work are being commercialized by Lumius Imaging, co-founded by PI-Lab alumni Tri Vu and Luca Menozzi, which closed a $4.5M seed round in 2026.
Key publications
- Vu T. et al. Three-dimensional diffractive acoustic tomography. Nature Communications, 2025.
- Deep-learning-assisted photoacoustic and ultrasound evaluation for pre-transplant human liver graft quality and transplant suitability.
- Unveiling functional viability: integrated photoacoustic and ultrasound localization microscopy for ex vivo human kidney assessment.
- Beyond biomarkers: high-resolution viability mapping of pre-transplant kidneys using integrated PA/ULM.
Team: Dongyoung Jeong, Yirui Xu, Zhouyan Gao
Collaborators: Jun Xia (Buffalo), Liping Feng (Duke OB/GYN), Jeffrey Lawson (Duke Surgery), Lumius Imaging